Central Office Administrative Staff

Paul Vincent, MSW, LCSW, Director

with Otter, the office dog

Paul Vincent is the Director of The Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group,
which he helped create in 1997; a private, nonprofit technical assistance organization
serving states and organizations involved in system improvement.

Paul has spent thirty years in providing, managing and administering services
to children and their families. His work has ranged from direct child welfare practice
to administering numerous major programs in a state human services agency.
His recent public system experience involved reform of Alabama's child welfare system.
During his eight year tenure as Director of Family and Children's Services in Alabama,
significant improvement occurred in outcomes for families and children, including: significant
reductions in the need to place children in out of home care, elimination of the misuse of
psychiatric hospitalization for emotionally disturbed children in foster care, reductions in the
use of congregate care, reductions in the separation of siblings and reductions in placement disruptions.
Alabama also was the recipient of Edna McConnell Clark Foundation funding for development of family
preservation services and was selected as an implementation site of the Annie E. Casey
Foundation's Family-to-Family foster care reform initiative. Paul is the recipient of the
National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators 1994 Award for Excellence in
Child Welfare Administration and served as a NAPCWA Board member. While director of Alabama's
child welfare system Paul was frequently involved in national forums on child welfare reform
and class action litigation.

Since leaving Alabama's system, Paul and The Child Welfare Group have provided consultation
to over twenty child welfare systems in the country and are now working in multiple states.
He has served in strategic planning, evaluation, training and coaching roles, as well as court monitoring functions.

Paul received his BA in 1969 from Huntingdon College and his Masters Degree in Social Work in
1972 from the University of Alabama.

June Hirst, MSW

June Hirst has been employed with The Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group since January, 1998. Her work with The Child
Welfare Group includes participation in curriculum development; training front line staff, supervisors and administrators;
coaching and mentoring front line staff, supervisors and administrators in their practice reform efforts which includes facilitation
of family team conferences; coaching and mentoring staff through the Qualitative Case Consultation/Reviews; and individual case consultation.

Prior to joining The Child Welfare Group, Mrs. Hirst worked for the Alabama Department of Human Resources for twenty-six years
at both the county and state level which included experience at all levels of public child welfare. During her tenure with DHR
State Office, she supervised the Office of Child Welfare Policy and Services which included adoption, foster care, protective
services, child welfare eligibility, policy development, training, finance and administration. Her most recent experience there
included supervision of the Office of Conversion and Compliance that was responsible for implementation of various components of
the R.C. vs. Hornsby Consent Decree. Responsibilities included system of care field support, resource development, policy
development, training and contracting.

June received her MSW from the University of Alabama in 1976.

Nina Kynard, Business Manager

Consultants

Supporting the organization′s work with systems is a skilled group of consultants who bring a rich background
of experience in child welfare, children′s mental health and juvenile justice to their technical assistance role. Their current
qualitative review work and practice coaching with staff and families gives them close proximity to day-to-day practice, which makes
their consultation grounded in today′s practice environment and credible to staff and administrators.